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The original butterfly wing nuts holding the wheels on were still with the bike. Three of the four were reused but on the rear a new wing nut was needed with a longer shank to bypass the derailleur. The original hubs were designed for 40 spokes on the rear wheel and 32 on the front. That may have been a common combination in post-war England but it's not now. And it was impossible to find a replacement set of wheels with that combination of spoke arrangements and in 27 x 1 1/4" size. So, the decision was made to go to 700 cc wheels which now provides a better choice of tires.The old 40 spoke rear hub was kept with the bike and a new 36 spoke front hub was acquired for the rebuilt combination. |
| The rear hub is interesting because it is threaded on both sides. That means that a rear gear can be put on either side of the hub and thus the rear wheel is reversable. In this case the hub was designed for a four speed cluster on one side and a single speed cluster on the other. The reason for this combination is that the four speed can be used for touring and the one speed can be used for fixed gear races which were common in England at that time. |  |
